Joss Whedon Re-Writing CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER?

On Tuesday, we reported that Joss Whedon was in final negotiations to write and direct The Avengers. Today, Pajiba reports that Whedon might also be re-writing the script for Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger. The extent of Whedon’s polish on Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script is unknown but since Whedon’s greatest strength is his dialogue, I’d wager that’s where we’ll see his thumbprint.

This news combined with his Avengers deal has me shocked that Whedon is so far into the Marvel Universe movies. At this point, we possibly have Whedon directing Marvel Studios biggest film and writing two of its superhero scripts. Hell, since Whedon wrote the must-read Astonishing X-Men, might as well give him the next X-Men movie. At some point his fans will blow a fuse in their brains. And then they’ll be all like, “Where’s Dr. Horrible 2?!?!” Commence construction of the Whedon Cloner.

Hit the jump for a brief refresher on Captain America: The First Avenger.

Captain America: The First Avenger will be set during World War II. Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) will play Captain America/Steve Rogers. Sebastian Stan (Gossip Girl) will play Captain America’s sidekick Bucky Barnes. Yesterday, it was announced that Haylee Atwell (The Duchess) will play Captain America’s love interest Peggy Carter. The film’s villain will be Red Skull and Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) is still in negotiations for the part.

There was also yesterday’s rumor that Captain America along with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) would appear at the end of Iron Man 2.

Captain America: The First Avenger is slated to hit theaters on July 22, 2011. The Avengers is slated to hit theaters on May 4, 2012.

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